Alfred Noyes Poems

Alfred NoyesAlfred Noyes (1880-1958), English poetAlfred Noyes (September 16, 1880 – June
28, 1958) was an English poet, best known for his ballads The Highwayman
(1906) and The Barrel Organ.
Born in Wolverhampton, England, he was the son of Alfred and Amelia Adams Noyes.
Noyes attended Exeter College, Oxford, leaving before he had earned a degree.
At 21 years of age, he published his first collection of poems, The Loom Years.
From 1903 to 1908, Noyes published five volumes of poetry books, including The
Forest of Wild Thyme and The Flower of Old Japan and Other Poems.
In 1907, he married Garnett Daniels. He was given the opportunity to teach
English literature at Princeton University, where he taught from 1914 until
1923. Noyes' wife died in 1926, resulting in his conversion to Roman
Catholicism. He wrote about his conversion in The Unknown God, published in
1934.
Noyes later married Mary Angela Mayne Weld-Blundell, from an old recusant
Catholic family from Ince Blundell in Lancashire. They settled at Lisle Combe,
near Ventnor on the Isle of Wight and had three children: Henry, Veronica, and
Margaret. His younger daughter married Michael Nolan (later Lord Nolan) in 1953.
He later started dictating his work as a result of increasing blindness. In
1953, his autobiography, Two Worlds for Memory, was published.
Noyes died at the age of 77 and was buried on the Isle of Wight. He authored
around sixty books, including poetry volumes, novels, and short stories. Noyes'
poetry supports patriotism and war heroes, reflects his appreciation for nature,
his respect for explorers of the scientific world, and his faith in God.